The war between whole-food plant-based diet (WFPB) versus keto diet wages on with the WFPB diet decisively beating keto in cancer outcomes, both in prevention and treatment.
Published in JAMA Oncology from Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, researchers published a review finding that a WFPB diet is best when it comes to fighting cancer. The authors reviewed large population studies from the United States, United Kingdom, and France.
A WFPB diet is a diet where one eats unprocessed to minimally processed food from plants. Whereas the keto diet is generally known to be a diet high on animal protein.
The researchers concluded that the WFPB diet lead decreased cancer risks in many ways including decreasing inflammation, excess insulin, and decreasing body fat. In addition, whole, unprocessed plants is loaded with nutrients that fight cancer including: phytochemicals, antioxidants, fiber, and vitamins.
“Many of these processes are involved in the growth of cancer, such as obesity and inflammation, hormones, insulin, the microbiome, and more. We examine several of these processes in our review. The bottom line for people looking to reduce their risk of cancer is that the current evidence supports a plant-based diet over a keto diet.”
“There are many biologic processes in the body that are impacted by diet and energy balance in general. Many of these processes are involved in the growth of cancer, such as obesity and inflammation, hormones, insulin, the microbiome, and more,” said author, Neil Iyengar.
The researchers also found that the WFPB diet also improved the health of people undergoing cancer treatments by protecting them against various toxicity of chemotherapy. The patients experienced alleviated symptom profiles such as decreased joint pain and gastrointestinal upset.
As the trove of research has consistently showed, a WFPB diet is good for both decreasing cancer risk as well as during cancer treatment to improve treatment outcomes. So if you don’t want cancer, a WFBP diet is the diet you should be eating.
UA Shah and NM Iyengar. Plant-based and ketogenic diets as diverging paths to address cancer: a review. JAMA Oncology. doi:10.1001/jamaoncol.2022.1769
